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Posts by Henry Blodget

As yet, however, with the very notable exception of Netflix, none of these streaming services has offered a compelling alternative to traditional TV, especially for viewers who like to watch live sports.

Apple's service could change that.

By including some of the major networks, Apple will provide access to many of the games and events that today's sports fans keep their cable TV subscriptions for. And Apple's service will make these networks available even in geographic areas in which using an antenna to capture broadcast signals is impractical.

Just as important, Apple's service will likely allow subscribers to watch TV and TV programs wherever they are — not just on the couch at home in front of their television sets.

The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has create a "multi-screen world" for most of us, especially the younger digital generation. We want to watch what we want to watch whenever and wherever we want to watch it — not just on the couch in the evening. Apple's TV service will likely give us the opportunity to do just that.

As regular viewers know, for the past 17 months I have been worrying out loud about US stock prices. Specifically, I have suggested that a decline of 30% to 50% would not be a surprise.

I haven't predicted a crash. I also haven't made a timing call. But I do think stocks will deliver returns that are way below average for the next seven to 10 years.

So far these concerns have just made me sound like Chicken Little. The S&P 500 is up strongly from where I first worried allowed.

That's actually good for me, because I own stocks. And, for the reasons I describe below, I'm still not selling them. But my concerns haven't changed. In fact, as stocks continue to rise, my worries continue to increase. I've described them in detail below, too.

The BBC traced Apple's supply chain back to its roots and found that, among other things, tin used in iPhonescomes from dangerous mud mines in Indonesia that employ and kill children and that Chinese people who assemble iPhones work such long hours that they occasionally fall asleep on the job.

These discoveries are startling and depressing. At the very least, they should remind us that the true cost of iPhones is much higher than what we, Apple's rich customers, actually pay for them.

* The policy helps put everyone's focus on the quality and impact of our team's work rather the number of hours they put in

* The policy treats people like the adults they are, giving them more freedom and responsibility to build the lives and jobs they want

* The policy saves a lot of administrative hassle for everyone involved

The policy does require every member of our team to take responsibility for doing an excellent job. They need to communicate clearly and make sure someone else is handling their responsibilities when they're out. They need to create a lot of value for our readers and clients. But they have as much freedom as we can give them to do their work when and how they want. And if they can do a great job while talking a lot of time out of the office, we're happy to have them do that.

I'm an Apple customer and shareholder. I watched parts of the live-stream of the launch yesterday — when it wasn't crapping out. I looked at pictures and videos of the new products. I read some early "takes" on the products.

So it's time to rush to judgment.

And here's my judgment — as a customer first, and then as a shareholder.

My judgment as an Apple customer...

THE iPHONE 6: Yay!

Apple has finally caught up with the rest of the market and launched a smartphone that isn't tiny. I've been a loyal iPhone user for 5 years, and I've been waiting for this particular upgrade for the past two. The faster processor, better battery, and better camera are also appealing to me. Great job, Apple.

THE iPHONE 6 PLUS: Yay!!

APPLE PAY: Cool!

APPLE WATCH: Meh.

My judgement as an Apple shareholder...

I probably should have dumped my excess Apple yesterday, when the stock jumped to $103 in the seconds before the Watch was announced (it then plummeted). I think there's a decent chance that that will be the high for a while.

Make no mistake:

The only Apple product that matters in terms of Apple's financial performance over the next year is the iPhone.

One reason is that average American consumers, who account for the vast majority of the spending in the economy, are still strapped.

The reason average American consumers are still strapped, meanwhile, is that America's companies and company owners — the small group of Americans who own and control America's corporations — are hogging a record percentage of the country's wealth for themselves.

In the past 5 years, American corporations have boosted their profits and share prices by cutting costs (firing people) and buying back stock. As a result, unemployment remains high. And wage growth for the Americans who are lucky enough to be working has been pathetic — the slowest since World War 2.

Meanwhile, America's corporations and their owners have never had it better. Corporate profits just hit another all-time high, both in absolute dollars and as a percent of the economy. And U.S. stocks are at record highs.

Even Scrooge would be appalled.

Many people seem confused by this juxtaposition. If corporations and shareholders are doing so well, why is the economy so crappy?

Ultimately, stock prices are determined by supply and demand. When more money is seeking fewer shares, stock prices go up. And vice versa.

So when you're trying to get a sense of what is driving stock prices, it's smart to look at the changing sources of supply and demand.

One big source of demand for stocks in recent years has come from companies buying back their own shares. These buybacks have not just provided extra demand — they have decreased the total supply of shares available. So the buybacks have shifted the supply-demand balance and helped drive stock prices higher.

One important point is that corporations usually make the same mistake in buying back their own stocks that many investors make: They buy most aggressively late in bull markets when stocks are about to fall. And then they stop buying when prices plunge and their shares are actually cheap. In so doing, in other words, they squander shareholder capital.

Citizens have a "right to be forgotten," the court said, and this right will now allow European citizens to order Google (GOOG) to remove links to information about the citizens that the citizens don't like.

At first blush, this ruling sounds appealing: There is information on the Internet about all of us that we would like to be forgotten. And it is the rare individual who is pleased with everything that turns up when he or she does a Google search on him or herself. (I hate what comes up when I do a search on my name, for example. A lot of it is mortifying and humiliating to me. I've never tried to hide it, and never will, but if it suddenly disappeared from my Google searches, Wikipedia page, bio, and the SEC's web site, etc., I wouldn't rush to complain.) Upon reflection, however, this ruling creates a whole host of potential problems, not least of which are harm to other people and a major administrative hassle for Google.

Apple (AAPL) reports earnings Wednesday after the market close. Wall Street is not expecting particularly impressive results. The focus of most Apple investors appears to be on the new products Apple is expected to roll out in the second half of this year.

And those products are indeed critical for the company and its stock price.

A few years ago, Apple was one of the greatest growth stories in the stock market. For more than a decade, the company astounded Wall Street with one smashing quarter after another. Eventually, Apple's lead in smartphones and tablets seemed insurmountable, and Apple's stock price soared above $700 per share.

But then the premium smartphone market hit maturity, and smaller, cheaper tablets began to gobble up more and more market share.